Hoist for beds



G. ROBERGE HOIST FOR BEDS Jan. 17, 1961 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 1, 1954 INVENTOR GUY ROBERGE ATTORNEYS Jan. 17, 1961 G. ROBERGE HOIST FOR BEDS 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 1, 1954 INVfNTOR GUY R OBERGE ATTORNEYS G. ROBERGE HOIST FOR BEDS Jan. 17, 1961 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Nov. 1, 1954 INVENTOR GUY ROBERGE ATTORNEY5 Jan. 17, 1961 Filed Nov. 1, 1954 G. ROBERGE HOIST FOR BEDS 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 nvvmron GUY ROBERGE United States Patent HOIST FOR BEDS Guy Roberge, 660 Laurenfien Blvd., St. Laurent, Quebec, Canada Filed Nov. 1, 1954, Ser. No. 466,191

2 Claims. (Cl. -10) The present invention relates to improved means to conceal beds wherein the bed is modified or designed to be raised into an opening in the ceiling when it is not in use so it will not occupy any floor space in the room.

More particularly the present invention relates to an improved hoist to elevate a bed to the attic above a room through an opening made in the ceiling.

The general object of the present invention is the provision of means to increase the utility of the floor space usually occupied by a bed by employing the unused space in the attic for storing said bed when not in use.

An important object of the present invention is the provision of means whereby the opening in the ceiling may be closed when the bed is in use, or when the bed has been hoisted to the attic, thereby hiding the hoist in both cases.

Still another important object of the present invention is the provision of a bed hoist which is electrically op erated whereby no effort will be required of the operator for elevating or lowering the bed to and from the attic.

The foregoing and other important objects of the present invention will become more apparent during the following disclosure and by referring to the drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the interior of a room in which the bed according to the present invention is shown in lowered position;

Figure 2 is a partial perspective view showing one embodiment of the panel used for closing the opening in the ceiling;

Figure 3 is an elevation partly in section of the hoist mechanism and closure panel and showing the bed in elevated position within the attic;

Figure 4 is a cross-section of the closure panel and operating means therefor;

Figure 5 is a partial perspective view of the closure panel;

Figure 6 is a perspective view of the hoist and bed assembly;

Figure 7 is an end elevation of the hooking means for attaching the lifting cables to the bed frame shown in cross-section;

Figure 8 is a side view of the booking means shown in Figure 7;

Figure 9 is an elevation of the hoist mechanism and of another embodiment of the closure panel;

Figure 10 is a plan view of the locking means for said closure panel;

Figures 11 and 12 are elevations of the coupling means between the extension of the worm shaft and the shaft of the manually operable means, shown in uncoupled and coupled position respectively; and

Figure 13 is a cross-section along line 1313 of Figure 12.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings in which like reference characters indicate like elements throughout, reference character A indicates the ceiling of the interior of a room, said ceiling being provided with an opening 1 through which may be hoisted, by means of cables 2, a bed which is generally indicated at B.

The hoisting device for elevating the bed B is located in the attic C of the house, as shown in Figures 3 and 9, and comprises an electric motor 3 secured to a beam member 4 and a worm shaft 5 which is coupled to the motor shaft and is provided with a worm 6 in meshing engagement with a worm gear 7 which is secured to an elevating shaft 8 extending at right angles to the worm shaft 5, as shown in Figure 6.

The elevating shaft 8 is journalled in brackets or pillow blocks 9 which are secured to a beam 10 disposed above the ceiling opening 1.

Winch drums 11 are secured to the shaft 8 and the cables 2 are wound on said drums 11 and are trained on shielded pulleys 12 and 13 mounted on beams 14 and 14 respectively, said beams being disposed above the sides of the ceiling opening 1.

As shown in Figures 7 and 8, ,the free ends of the cables 2 are provided with devices for removably hooking'said cables to the sides of the bed B. Each hooking device comprises a hook 15 which is provided with a spring pressed tongue 16 and which is mounted on the looped end 17 of the steel cable 2, said looped end being secured by means of the clamp 18. The hook 15 is adapted to removably engage a ring 19 which is inserted in a hole 20 of a two-piece collar 21 which is secured to the side tubular member 22 of the bed frame by means of bolts and nuts 23. The tongue 16 prevents accidental disengagement of the hook 15 from the ring 19 which the bed is being lifted or lowered.

Due to the fact that the elevating shaft 8 is coupled to the electric motor 3 by means of gear 7, worm 6 and worm shaft 5, the bed cannot be lowered or elevated except by applying a direct torque to the worm shaft 5 because worm 6 and worm gear 7 act as a brake. Thus no additional brake systems are required to maintain the bed in any elevated position.

In order to elevate or lower the bed in the event of a power failure there is provided a manual device which is normally disconnected from the extension of worm shaft 5 but which may be connected to the same in order to rotate the elevating shaft 8.

Said manual device comprises a crank 25, which is within easy reach of the operator, and to which is secured a sprocket wheel 26 on which is trained a sprocket chain 27 which is also trained on a sprocket wheel 28, itself secured to an extension shaft 29 which is journalled in brackets or pillow blocks 30 secured to the beam 14' and beam 4. The extension shaft 29 of the manually operated device may be coupled to or uncoupled from the extension of worm shaft 5. Said shafts 29 and 5 are aligned and are provided with keyways 31 and 32, respectively, for slidable engagement with the key 33 of a sleeve 34. The sleeve 34 is axially slidable on the extension of worm shaft 5 and the extension shaft 29 between an uncoupling position entirely on shaft 29, as shown in Figure 11, and a coupling position, shown in Figure 12, in which it overlies the adjacent ends of the shafts 5 and 29. A cotter pin 35 maintains the sleeve 34 in uncoupling position when said cotter pin 35 is inserted in a bore 36 of the extension shaft 29, or maintains the sleeve 34 in coupling position when said cotter pin 35 is inserted in a second bore 37 of the extension shaft 29. The bore 37 preferably extends in the plane of the bore 36.

According to the present invention, the ceiling opening '1 may be closed by a panel when the bed B is either in lifted position above the ceiling A in the attic C, or when the bed is in lowered position and the cables 2 are detached therefrom and wound on the Winch drums 11.

The first embodiment of such a panel is shown in Figures 2 to 5 inclusive, and comprises a panel 40 made of plywood or other suitable. material on the top face of which. is secured two parallel rack members 41 adapted to mesh with gear wheels 42 which are secured to a transverse shaft 43 journalled in the ceiling beams 38 which are cut off at the edges of the opening 1. Additional beams 38 are secured along one side to the beams 39 which extend along the sides of opening 1. Beams 38 extend over opening 1 and are provided along their underface with a channel shaped rail 44 in which ride carriages 45, shown in Figure 5, from which panel 40 is suspended. The panel is moved between a closed position and an opened position by means of a crank (not shown) through the intermediary of gear wheels 42, shaft 43, bevel gears 46, shaft 47, sprocket wheel 48, and sprocket chain 49 which is trained on a second sprocket wheel (not shown) secured to the shaft of the above-mentioned crank. The crank device is similar to that shown at 25 in Figure 6 for the manual operation of the hoist according to the present invention. The sprocket chains 49 and 27 are preferably hidden within the walls of the room and only the crank handles project within the room at a convenient height for manual operation. The lowered ceiling portion A is suspended from beams 38 by means of L-shaped brackets 39 to clear the slidable panel 40.

Another simpler embodiment of the panel, according to the present invention, is illustrated in Figures 9 and 10. A panel 50 is hinged at 51 to the ceiling A and its outer corners are connected by means of wire cables 52 to spring pulleys 53 which facilitate lifting pivotal movement of the panel 50.

Panel 50 may be locked in closed position by the locking device 54 shown in Figure and consisting of three axially slidable locking bars 55 and 56 adapted to enter registering notches made in the sides of the opening 1. Locking bars 55 and 56 are actuated by a rotatable wheel 57 through the pivoted links 58. Wheel 57 is provided with a knob or other such device for engagement with a suitable tool so that a person standing on the floor of the room may lock or unlock the panel.

Once the bed B has been lowered to the floor of the room, the cables 2 may be unhooked and wound on the drums 11. Thereafter, the panel 40 or 50 may be moved to a closed position whereby the hoisting mechanism is completely hidden from view. When the bed B is not in use, the panel 40 or 50 is moved to uncover the ceiling opening 1 and the cables 2 are unwound and hooked to the bed B and rewound thereby lifting the bed back into the attic C.

The electric circuit to the motor 3 of the hoist will include a limit switch (not shown) for automatically stopping said motor when the bed reaches either one of its elevated and lowered limit positions. Said electric circuit will also include a safety switch for cutting the power off when the panel is not fully open so that the hoist cannot be operated. Such a safety switch may be a press-button switch. When used in conjunction with panel 40, it may be located at 60 and will close the motor circuit when pressed by the fully open panel.

When used in conjunction with panel 50, it may be located at 61 and will close the motor circuit when released by the stud 62 of the fully open panel.

While preferred embodiments according to the present invention have been illustrated and described it is understood that various modifications may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. The combination with a room having a ceiling and an attic above said ceiling, of a hoisting device mounted in said attic and including winch drums, an electric motor worm and gear means operatively connecting said motor and winch drums, pulleys mounted above said ceiling, flexible cables wound on said winch drums and extending over said pulleys, a bed, hook and ring means at the outer ends of said flexible cables and at the four corners of said bed to removably connect said cables to said bed, said motor being operative to raise said bed from said room through an aperture in said ceiling in a position above said ceiling and within said attic, said aperture being proportioned for the passage of said bed, a panel separate from said bed and mounted on the ceiling for movement between a position closing said ceiling aperture and a position opening said ceiling aperture, means for moving said panel between said positions, means for supporting said panel in closing position and switch means in the electric circuit of said electric motor responsive to the movement of said panel and closing the circuit to said electric motor when said panel is in open position, and opening said circuit when said panel is in closed position, so constructed and arranged that said cables can be disconnected from said bed when the latter is in lowered position within said room and said cables can be wound on said winch drums and said ceiling aperture can be closed by said panel, said panel when in closed position causing opening of said circuit through said switch means and affording a safety support to prevent the bed in raised position from accidentally dropping through said aperture.

2. The combination as claimed in claim 1, wherein said motor has a shaft extension and, further including a manual device for actuating said winch drums, said manual device including a shaft aligned with said shaft extension, a crank handle connected to said shaft for rotating the same, and a coupling device movable between a position for coupling said shaft to the shaft extension of said electric motor and a position uncoupling said shafts.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 67,494 Burnett Aug. 6, 1867 416,847 McLaughlin Dec. 10, 1889 829,469 Harris Aug. 28, 1906 931,962 Rountree Aug. 24, 1909 1,000,084 Frederickson Aug. 8, 1911 1,004,876 Haynes Oct. 3, 1911 1,352,455 Johnston Sept. 14, 1920 1,720,116 Broome et a1 July 9, 1929 1,764,405 Hill et a] June 17, 1930 2,072,354 Biebel Mar. 2, 1937 2,112,837 Fisher Apr. 5, 1938 2,164,128 Medenwald June 27, 1939 2,592,166 McLean Apr. 8, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 393,718 Great Britain June 15, 1933 

